‘Justice League’ movie hopes to finally bring Batman and Superman together on screen

If teaming up worked for Iron Man, Thor and The Hulk, it has to work for Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, right?

Warner Bros. Pictures seems to think so, as Variety reported yesterday that the studio has hired a new writer to bring DC Comics' "Justice League" to the big screen. Just as "The Avengers" assembled the biggest heroes from Marvel Comics, "Justice League" would see DC's iconic characters joining forces to save the world. (DC Comics is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.) The fact that "The Avengers" is now the third highest-grossing film of all time with $1.3 billion worldwide seems to have reignited the fire to get the other legendary superhero team up on movie screens.
[Related: Christian Bale gets emotional remembering Heath Ledger]

Variety's report states that Will Beall, who wrote the upcoming "Gangster Squad" (starring Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin) for Warner Bros., has been hired to take on the screenplay. Beall previously wrote for TV's "Castle," but he has also been announced as the writer for new movie versions of "Logan's Run" and "Lethal Weapon 5."

While interest in a "Justice League" movie has certainly been rekindled by the record-breaking success of "The Avengers," the project has been in the works for several years. Director George Miller ("Mad Max," "Happy Feet") was hired for the film in the fall of 2007, with production scheduled to begin the next year for a planned 2009 release.

The original plan was to have a completely fresh cast of actors take on the comic book roles, separate from any existing franchise. Unlike "The Avengers," where the original stars returned, this would have a different cast (so no Christian Bale as Batman). At the time, Armie Hammer ("The Social Network") was attached to play Batman, with D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Adam Brody as the Flash, and Megan Gale as Wonder Woman.

The Writer's Guild strike in late 2007 put a halt to the project, however. The production went into an indefinite hiatus, with George Miller moving on to a new "Mad Max" reboot, which is scheduled to start filming soon. In the intervening years, Warner Bros. released the disappointing "Green Lantern," with "The Dark Knight Rises" coming this summer and the new Superman film "The Man of Steel" slated for next June.

That wasn't the first time Warner Bros. tried and failed to get DC's heaviest hitters together in one movie. In the early 2000s, the studio developed "Batman Vs. Superman," which would have pitted the two heroes against each other (though in the end they would team up to take on Lex Luthor). Josh Hartnett was rumored for Superman, with Colin Farrell considered for Batman. But that was eventually shelved in favor of Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins."

Currently, there isn't a director, cast or release date for "Justice League," but summer of 2014 seems like it would be the earliest we could expect to see it. There are also a host of individual DC superhero movies in development, including the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Lobo.

It's also unclear if Warner Bros. still plans to keep the "Justice League" as a separate continuity from the standalone movies, or integrate them the way Marvel built up to "The Avengers." When Joss Whedon, the director of "The Avengers" was asked if he had any advice for the people making "Justice League," he jokingly answered, "Call me." He followed it by saying that it's harder to bring DC characters to the screen than Marvel since they are "from an old, bygone era" where heroes were less flawed and grounded. And Whedon would know, since he tried to bring "Wonder Woman" to the screen in another project that stalled out several years ago.

UPDATE: Mark Millar, the writer who created the comic books the inspired the movies "Wanted" and "Kick-Ass," posted on his official website MillarWorld.tv that someone he knows is friends with screenwriter Will Beall and got a peek at the unfinished "Justice League" script. Millar reported that the new take on the movie is "Very real-world and not at all what you might expect." He said Beall began working on the script before "The Avengers" hit theaters, and that the "tidbits I heard sound quite dark and mature, which isn't what I expected."

Sounds like a pretty lightweight cast they had planned. That isn't going to get anybody excited. The Wonder Woman they had planned has an acting resume of three forgettable minor movies in nine years.

Nothing like a HUGE story to kick off the launch of Batman News 2.0. I can’t even believe I’m about to write this… but Warner Bros. is reportedly about to put some life into their failed Justice League project. We recently learned that Will Beall’s script has been scrapped, and they were going back to the drawing board. El Mayimbe of Latino Review is back with another huge scoop! According to El Mayimbe, Christopher Nolan’s new role at Warner Bros. is to oversee all developments of their superhero properties. Like he did on Man of Steel, Nolan will “Godfather” and produce the upcoming Justice League movie.But that’s not all…

Last May, Bale told Empire Magazine that if Christopher Nolan came to him with a good story, he’d be willing to play Batman again. The plan right now is to have Christian Bale reprise his role as Batman and join Henry Cavill’s Superman. Warner Bros. feels like their back is against the wall… and has to do something huge in order to compete with Marvel’s The Avengers. El Mayimbe suggests that a scene following Man of Steel’s credits could involve Superman finding a “retired” Bruce Wayne, and persuading him to join his “team”. If that happened, El Mayimbe says fanboys would squeal like 13 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert… and I think he might be right!

Check out the video above for all the details and hit up Latino Review at the source link below for the full story. And for those who are skeptical about this report… Latino Review has been a great source of Warner Bros. movie news. They were the first website to report that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker and that Brandon Routh would be Superman in 2006′s Superman Returns. Do you like the idea of Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan teaming up again for Justice League? Or would you prefer Warner Bros. went a different route? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned to Batman News for all the latest Justice League updates.

This could work and be pretty interesting depending upon what they do with Batman. I would be so much more interested in scrapping a JL movie altogether, and making 2 or 3 films out of "Return of the Dark Knight" (the animated movie, especially #2 is great). That would be ****ing awesome in my opinion or just make this in about another 10 or 15 years with Nolan and Bale, and go ahead with a JL movie for now.

I guess I'll have to wait until the new Supes movie comes out to know for sure but I think part of the reason both The Avengers and Dark Knight trilogy works is because the heroes, for the most part, aren't really super-powered. Of course, they aren't realistic at all but there is still a thought that training, technology or science made these heroes (Thor excepted) so there is a tiny connection to them to the audience. Watching super-beings like Superman and Wonder Woman reduces the audience to just watching the show with little personal involvement.

If they could make the heroes more like a cross between Nolan's Batman and the CW show "Arrow", I think they could do something cool.

BTW, I know none of it realistic at all - no amount of training is going to make you be able to take the punishment Bruce Wayne takes as Batman, for example - but it is more "believable" than super-powered aliens.

I guess I'll have to wait until the new Supes movie comes out to know for sure but I think part of the reason both The Avengers and Dark Knight trilogy works is because the heroes, for the most part, aren't really super-powered.

Yes, Thor and Hulk could really happen.

__________________
Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning:

Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down.

This could work and be pretty interesting depending upon what they do with Batman. I would be so much more interested in scrapping a JL movie altogether, and making 2 or 3 films out of "Return of the Dark Knight" (the animated movie, especially #2 is great). That would be ****ing awesome in my opinion or just make this in about another 10 or 15 years with Nolan and Bale, and go ahead with a JL movie for now.

I loved those to movies. Absolutely amazing, and to see someone finally take Batman their was epic.

I really wouldn't mind seeing a Batman vs. Superman movie if it was all dark like that.

Actually, I just had a different thought about this. Maybe it isn't the level of realism but that a more realistic super-hero is easier to get right in a movie. For example, I was a huge Spider-Man fan when I was a kid. One of the most disappointing thing about all of movies is they just haven't gotten Spidey to move the way I always pictured in my head. He was supposed to be incredibly fast and agile and I don't think they have been able to duplicate that yet. Batman and Iron Man are easier to make believable because they aren't super-powered.

Nothing like a HUGE story to kick off the launch of Batman News 2.0. I can’t even believe I’m about to write this… but Warner Bros. is reportedly about to put some life into their failed Justice League project. We recently learned that Will Beall’s script has been scrapped, and they were going back to the drawing board. El Mayimbe of Latino Review is back with another huge scoop! According to El Mayimbe, Christopher Nolan’s new role at Warner Bros. is to oversee all developments of their superhero properties. Like he did on Man of Steel, Nolan will “Godfather” and produce the upcoming Justice League movie.But that’s not all…

Last May, Bale told Empire Magazine that if Christopher Nolan came to him with a good story, he’d be willing to play Batman again. The plan right now is to have Christian Bale reprise his role as Batman and join Henry Cavill’s Superman. Warner Bros. feels like their back is against the wall… and has to do something huge in order to compete with Marvel’s The Avengers. El Mayimbe suggests that a scene following Man of Steel’s credits could involve Superman finding a “retired” Bruce Wayne, and persuading him to join his “team”. If that happened, El Mayimbe says fanboys would squeal like 13 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert… and I think he might be right!

Check out the video above for all the details and hit up Latino Review at the source link below for the full story. And for those who are skeptical about this report… Latino Review has been a great source of Warner Bros. movie news. They were the first website to report that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker and that Brandon Routh would be Superman in 2006′s Superman Returns. Do you like the idea of Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan teaming up again for Justice League? Or would you prefer Warner Bros. went a different route? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned to Batman News for all the latest Justice League updates.

We already knew that Christian Bale probably wasn't going to show up as Batman in the upcoming Justice League movie, the Avengers-style supergroup of DC heroes. First, Bale said that he wouldn't do another Batman movie unless Nolan opted for a fourth Dark Knight chapter, which Nolan says isn't happening. Then 'Man of Steel' and 'Dark Knight' screenwriter David S. Goyer confirmed that the Justice League's Batman would be a rebooted character. So that pretty much closed the book.

Still, with news like this, sometimes you just have to hear it from the man himself.

"We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That's enough. Let's not get greedy," says Bale, who called EW to promote his upcoming revenge drama 'Out of the Furnace' (in theaters Nov. 27). "Chris [Nolan] always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying 'We're about to make the third.' We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well."

The actor says he hasn't even been involved in official talks about a Justice League movie. "I have no information, no knowledge about anything. I've literally not had a conversation with a living soul. I understand that they may be making a Justice League movie, that's it." But he says he's not sad to pass Batman's cowl into new hands: "It's a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with."